


Moment of Impact

by LucienRahcuti



Category: Original Work
Genre: Car Accidents, Character Death, Death, Driving, Grim Reapers, Other, hit and run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 03:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21570166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucienRahcuti/pseuds/LucienRahcuti
Summary: Izabella's death came as quite a surprise, not least to herself. Moving on is hard, but with time, patience and the love of a being far greater than she could have ever imagined, will she be able to?
Kudos: 1





	Moment of Impact

The funny thing is Izabella really thought being hit and killed by a car would be so much more painful than it actually was. As it happens, she just felt a slight bump and weightlessness before she awkwardly hit the nearest street corner. In fact, it was so painless that she hadn’t even realised she was dead until moments after she stood up. It took looking down at her own broken and crumpled body and having every onlooker ignore her questions to confirm this strange but oddly unalarming fact.

Izabella sighed; she didn’t know why she was so calm. This was certainly not how she had imagined it. Around her bloodied and shattered little body gathered almost everyone in the street, and several nearby drivers, who had been forced out of their cars by the situation, too. She wasn’t sure who hit her, but one man was sat against the side of his car sobbing uncontrollably. He looked more shocked about this recent development than Izabella did, and arguably she had gotten off worse. He wasn’t exactly anything unusual of a man. He was roughly in his 30’s with a balding head, not exactly fat but not exactly thin either. The man who had killed her was nothing special; that was probably the most insulting thing so far. She headed over, sat gently beside him and thought about what she could do to comfort him. She placed her hand upon his shoulder, it gave no weight, and he clearly felt nothing. Seemingly, she was unconnected from the world, she appeared to have lost a physical presence, and this finally had begun worried her. This was perhaps her first view into the realisation of just how alone she was going to be.

After many minutes of watching stranger-after-stranger try in vain to keep her already devastated body alive, she heard an ambulance as it wailed in the distance, its desperate cries approached the scene with haste in a futile attempt to save what couldn’t be saved. She hadn’t seen anyone call for it, but with the endless screaming and panicking all over the street, it was no surprise she missed it. She stood up and left her killer; she had figured there was clearly nothing she could do for him and headed over to her own body. She found herself sitting next to herself, conceivably one of the more serial situations she had ever really been a part of. The crowd quickly moved out of the way as the Ambulance screeched into a halt only meters from her corpse. Three paramedics hastily rushed over, followed by several police officers that had arrived along-side the ambulance. She decided she wasn’t going to move, she’d realised no one could see her, so she figured she couldn’t exactly bother the process. Within only minutes, she and herself were surrounded by white tarpaulin and plastic sheeting. Several men all dressed in blank white overalls and protective gloves were gathered around her body, talking about many things she wasn’t exactly a fan of hearing and many things that she couldn’t understand. She decided to leave, she no longer wanted to hear about what had become of her, and she certainly no longer wanted to look at what had become of her.

She wandered out into the open streets once more. There were large crowds gathered around the tent now, they discussed what had happened, many were massively over exaggerating her death and the events which had caused them. She heard one lady talk about several small children that had died, as opposed to the one teenage girl. Sure, she knew it was common for people to far over emphasise stories, but this was strange for her, the extent of it. She hung around for a few minutes, sat upon wall not too far from the street she lay dead on. It was honestly quite a surprise to her, just how long it was taking them to clear her up. She shuddered at the thought of that. What were they going to do with her? Where would she be taken? How would her loved ones be told? It was strange, she knew all this and yet she still struggled to come to terms with how she felt, she expected to be rushed over with an explosion of emotions any minute, everything she should be feeling and wasn’t; like a backdraft of flames burning her to her core. She sighed and stood back up from the wall, walking through the crowds once more. No one moved out her way, no one told her to mind herself, no one pushed her and strangely enough, she already missed this; already missed those little moments of recognition that one was indeed alive, that one did indeed exist. She cleared the collective masses who had gathered with morbid fascination and walked along the city streets towards a small park that she used to enjoy and found herself sitting upon a stone wall.

It was only really now, that the truth of matters hit her. She was dead, very dead, extremely dead, and that was hard to process but finally, she felt herself realising what all of this meant. She found her head recounting all the people in her life she was never going to be able to speak to again, those people she wasn’t ever going to hold, and more importantly all of the people that were never going to hold her again. This had begun to burn her, searing darkness rushed over her mind. She held her head, a panic quickly took over, shutting down her senses and flooding her mind. A lump had formed at the back of her throat, a blazing white-hot-light took her vision from her, even with her closed eyes. She tried to keep herself focused, but all she could feel was an overwhelming numbness, it started with her fingers, a slight deadweight at the tips of her fingers, a weight that slowly and viciously ate its way up her entire body, this same numbness proceed to consume her mind, it mercilessly killed down any rational thought and left her with nothing but the cruel malevolence of her newfound anxiety. Her breathing became sharp, ripping at the back of her throat, making her gasp for air, air she didn’t have the strength to draw, her heart joined in this battle, raging behind her chest, threatening to break through and leave her. She begged herself in vain to gather her thoughts again, but it seemed she was no longer in control, only a passenger to sit back and allow the fear to take command, waiting for the time to be over, time that seemed to hang between seconds, torturing her forever. She tightened her grip on her skull, unable to let go. The sounds of passing cars, and birds tweeting echoed through the barren corners of her mind, striking the sides of her skull, the only thing filling the darkness that was slowly swallowing her very being, the pain she tried so hard to wish away, but never could. The pain that was only there to taunt her, the tell her there was no hope. She knew she was doomed, destined to melt into this panic and pain forever; she knew these were the last thoughts she was to ever have, and she knew she was going to become nothing.   
Then suddenly, she was back in reality.  
She felt something touch her shoulder, a hand. It was cold to the touch, but it was there. She let go of her hair, her grip softened, and her hands slid down to her sides, they were heavy. Her eyes shot open, but it took her sight a little longer to come back into focus, the blinding white-fear dissipating from her vision. Slowly, a figure had come into view, in front of her was stood a woman in black; she was old, the wrinkles and folds of her skin so pronounced that it was hard to tell what she even could have looked like as a young woman, and yet she was beautiful. Her features like a painted masterpiece, one that had devoured the very life of its artist. Her beauty unchallenged, shinning like a new moonrise, over the calm sea; so perfect and so celestial. She had autumn red hair, tied ever so elegantly into a bun, she had silver eyes, glowing with the purity of the starshine. Her look was finished off by the most luxuriously opulent dress, the entire thing seemingly crafted from the finest black silks, sequins and feathers.

“My Child” She uttered softly, her voice warmed with the kind of love musicians have tried to capture since the dawn of creation. “Passed so young”

Izabella was frozen, she just stared at the woman, her mind was calming now, but this new calm only brought questions, those questions she had been able to ignore until now.  
The woman spoke again, her angelic voice was the only thing keeping Izabella’s mind still “You have questions” She continued “You may ask”

Suddenly, a myriad of questions, each one more difficult to accept than the other, filled Izabella’s head like an angry hive of insects waking up at the first sign of threat. She swallowed, refusing that same lump from earlier and tried to speak. She settled on the easiest question “Who are you?” she croaked

An affectionate smile broke the woman’s lips, “I have been called many names” She began “The ancient Canaanite’s referred to me as Mot” She continued “The old low country tribes would call me Magere Hein. In the dark times, western Europe there were those who called me Pesta” She explained, then laughed softly to herself “Meaning Plague hag” She digressed “However, there are many now, who simply call me death”

Izabella’s eye widened. She knew she should be scared, and she was, but somehow it was hard not to feel at ease in the presence of the woman before her “Like the Grimm Reaper?” She stammered inquisitively

“That is one of your peoples titles for me” Death Acknowledged, she smiled a little “I’m not much a fan of the connotations of the big skeleton, but it is not my place to tell you what’s to say” She finished, then her calming smile dissipating to a look of concern, like a mother afraid for her daughter “Now, dearest child, we must talk about you”  
Izabella sighed a deep breath, expelling the fears built up from the crippling loneliness she feared so much. She had company now, perhaps not the company she would ever normally be comfortable around, but she figured now was not the time to wish it away. “What is there to say?” She questioned, clear thoughts coming back “I don’t understand what’s going on”

The angelic old woman joined her on the wall, steadying herself to sit gently “What do you think has happened, dear child?” She asked, her question opening much thought in the younger woman.

Izabella was silent for a moment, for some reason she felt calm around this woman, something about her exuded this serenity even in this, the most horrific of circumstances. She thought for a moment, knowing the answer, but struggling to let it be real. “Well,” She opened with “I can’t be dead?”

The elegant elderly woman smiled reassuringly “Unfortunately so my dear, too young”

Tears came to the younger girl’s eyes, but she held them back. She swallowed back “But I’m 14” she cried, and slammed her fist against the wall she and death sat upon   
Death looked saddened, she seemed to hold a deep love for Izabella, likely a deep love for all people.

Izabella was washed over by grief, she’d had a good life and the idea of leaving all that behind was unbearable. “Isn’t there any way back?” She lamented “I’d do anything” She bargained 

“Unfortunately, my dear, there is nothing that can be done” Confessed the cosmic being, placing her cold soft hand upon Izabella’s.

Izabella fell silent. She had nothing to say, after all, what does a person say to something like this? She simply found herself staring into the silvery starlight eyes before her, thousands of thoughts washing over her mind, like the final waves as the sea swallowed up a sinking ship, unstoppable, unchangeable and utterly unforgettable.

Death kept a gentle grip on Izabella’s hand, letting her have this moment. It was obvious that this entity had seen all this before. From guiding each and every person through this journey she had learned a great deal of patience and love. Humanity may well be fleeting to a deity like her, but nonetheless, it would seem all that past her had left their mark.  
The world was moving around them, as they sat upon their small stone wall. With her eyes closed, Izabella listened to the bustling sounds of humanity; car tires screeched in the distance, nearby there were two dogs that had begun barking at one and another as their owners lazily crossed paths, a plane flew above, to her right a neon sign proudly displaying the park shop was open blinked and buzzed and the streets were full of chatter. All these were the sounds of life, something Izabella had never once paid attention too, but now as she felt her grip on this plain loosen, she couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by them. She opened her eyes slowly, allowing them to flood and her vision to blur, waiting for the tears to silently roll down her cheeks. “Where do I go from here?”

Death, who still had a soft grip on Izabella’s hand, took a moment to answer. She took a light breath inwards, before speaking melodically “Where, my dearest child, would you like to go from here?”

Izabella looked up, a little confused. It oddly hadn’t occurred to her that she’d have any choice in the process. She too took a deep breath, before settling on her answer in her mind “Home” she said “I’d like to be with family… at least see them”

Death nodded slowly “We can see family” She smiled, standing up gently off the wall, her dress moving with her, it trailed off at the ends like heavy shadowy smoke. “Walk with me, my child”

Izabella looked to the woman, she wanted to step off the wall, she wanted to follow her, but she knew that would make this real. Following her would be following death, in this case quite literally. She glanced back over her shoulder, back towards the city streets where she had walked from. She saw traffic backed up for miles already, she could still see the crowds standing watching the scene and she could hear the sirens of the ever-increasing emergency-service presence. She took a few fast-shallow breaths, this was real whether she wanted it or not. She pushed forward, sliding gently off the wall and to her feet. She looked up to the woman before her, wiping a few more tears from her eyes that she fought valiantly to keep locked away. She didn’t speak, just walked over to Death and began to follow her.

The pair travelled the streets of the large city in relative silence. Both Death and Izabella knew that Izabella was not ready to speak. She was so caught up in the millions of thoughts rushing through her head that she couldn’t hold a conversation if she wanted too. Seeing her family was not supposed to be this frightening, she had a wonderful relationship with her Dads, but she knew this was the last time she would see them, and even worse she knew they would have no idea she was even there. 

As they approached the little red brick house at the end of the small pretty street she froze, standing just over the edge of the driveway. She stared at the house, all of this was too much. Death, who stood only a few feet in front of her, offered over her hand for the young girl to take. Izabella looked at the frail-elderly hand, then looked to Deaths starlight eyes, and reached to take her hand. 

“I promise you will be okay” Death affirmed “I will be here for you, for as long as it takes”

Izabella nodded, still fighting away her tears. But it was in vain, seeing the house was her tipping point, this was indeed too much. She sobbed gently for a minute before speaking “I’m afraid” She mumbled

“I know” Death replied in a whisper, then she walked and stood beside her, still holding her hand softly.  
Izabella took a deep breath, looked to Death and began to walk towards the door.

The pair passed through the wall into the house’s living room. They were met by a scene of utter despair They had been beaten here. The police had arrived already and were sitting with both of Izabella’s fathers, explaining the situation.

Izabella watched in horror as her dads tried their best to keep listening to the officers. Both men were in tears, having lost something that defies explanation. They were consumed by a pain that no words, no metaphor and no explanation could ever capture.

Izabella dropped hold of deaths hand, and ran over to the pair, desperately trying to hug them both. She scrambled to comfort her fathers, shouting and wailing at them that she was still there and that she loved them. She just dropped to her knees before them, with her face down to the floor completely unable to control her tears.   
Death wandered over, softly placing her hand upon her head. She went to speak, but was interrupted as Izabella screamed at her “How is this fair?” She roared “Why do they have to suffer, they have done nothing to deserve this” She continued, trailing off the end a little “They have done nothing to deserve this” she repeated “Nothing”

Death tried to speak comfortingly “A horror I know all too well” She lamented “I promise you, my dear child, they will be okay” She vowed. “It will be painful, and they will never be the same, but they will learn to see the light in their lives again.”

“How can you know that?” Izabella whimpered

“Because, regrettably,” Death began “I have watched this countless time, with countless families and countless humans”

“But how do you know they will be okay?” She asked, looking to her parents. She tensed her fists slightly, and tightened her jaw “I refuse to go with you until I know they will be okay” She threatened.

“I can show you,” Death said “If you wish. I can allow you to see the path your death forms for all of those connected to it.”

Izabella stood warily. She looked back to her parents, seeing them this broken, and this pained frightened her. She found it hard to believe there could ever be a future where they were able to find happiness again. “Show me” Izabella begged “show me some hope in this world”

Once more, death offered her hand for the taking. Izabella hesitated, she knew every step of this journey led her closer to her final fate, but she was slowly coming to terms with that. She gently took the cold fragile hand before her. The world changed around the pair, Izabella would watch her parents’ days, weeks and months turn into mere moments before her, like watching a video fast-forward. She’d see more pictures of herself appearing on the living-room wall, just above the fireplace, a small shrine dedicated to her memory. She’d see her wake pass before her, in the blink of an eye; her family and friends gathered in her home to pay their respects to her. She’d watch her parents age, redecorate and renew the home, her photos remaining the only constant. 

The world slowed again, everything around them ground back to its normal pace.

“How far have we come?” Izabella questioned, as she dried her eyes. She turned to the mounted photographs of herself.

“Ten years” Death answered gently, she let Izabella breath in her new surroundings.

“They never forgot me then” Izabella stated

“I don’t think they ever could” Death acknowledged “A parents love for their child is like no other”

As the pair spoke, Izabella became aware of two others entering the room. She stepped to the side, looking past death. She saw her parents. They had aged, perhaps more than would be expected in 10 years, but it was still them. 

Izabella smiled to herself. They seemed normal. They seemed to be leading normal lives. She didn’t know what she had feared would become of them, but she was glad to see that they had made it this far.

The taller of the men spoke “Matthew, I’ll be right with you. I’m just putting the shopping away” he said and disappeared into another room

Matthew nodded “Take your time William” he acknowledged, then walked over and stood looking at Izabella’s photos.

Izabella looked to death, then back to him. She was transfixed on her father, watching for how he was feeling.

They were all soon joined by her other father, William. He walked into the living room and stood beside his husband. Both were silent for a moment, looking up and their passed daughter's memorial wall. 

William finally broke the silence “10 years” He stammered

Matthew looked over to him, taking his hand “10 years, yeah. I miss her.” Matthew had always been the stronger of her dad’s. So it was no surprise to Izabella that he was the one comforting William. She supposed this was his way of coping with it, looking after those who need it.

William leaned his head on his husband's shoulder “Yeah…” he began “Me too” 

Izabella walked to stand in front of them, she knew she could not make contact, but she wanted to be close. As she did so, Matthew stepped forward, placing a single candle on the mantelpiece below her photos. William walked over and joined him. He struck a match and they lit it together.

“We’ll see her again,” Matthew said, simply. And the two embraced as they watched the candle burn. A yearly tribute to their loss. 

Izabella swallowed her sadness, she too stared at the candle, she understood everything that the candle represented. She looked up to her fathers. She took her time to take in one last look at them. “I will wait for you,” She said simply.

Death stood alone in the middle of the room. She was silent, allowing this child of hers the last moment she deserved.

Izabella watched the candle melt entirely. She decided to stand with her parents for as long as they stood. After the candle was burnt out and gone, the two men kissed a photo up on the wall and got back on with their lives, heading to their kitchen to prepare the evening meal. There was something comforting about seeing them carry on after that. To know they no longer let her death consume their days, only taking brief but important moments to explore their feelings instead. 

Death gave her a small loving smile “Are you wishing to see anything else, my dear child?”

“We must be nothing to you” Izabella wondered, effectively ignoring her question. She had watched live pass before in eyes in a matter of minutes, 10 years of change like it was nothing. “We must be like dust, so fleeting and pointless”

Death placed her hand gently upon Izabella’s right cheek “You, and your people, are everything to me” she contradicted “Everything”

“I think I am ready to go now,” Izabella said, taking her eyes off of her parents finally, and gazing once again into the starlight silver eyes of the reaper before her.  
Death nodded, she leant forward and placed a gentle kiss upon Izabella’s forehead. Raven black feathered wings sprouted from her back and the pair faded pleasantly into shadow.


End file.
